Mass Effect: Awakening
by jayfeather965
Summary: Shepard was the hero of the galaxy. He gave up his life to force the Reapers to rebuild the galaxy. His memory is honored on every planet through the galaxy. But what about the people he left behind. How do they move on? And what is making the Reapers rebuild everything? And who is this random guy that can shoot lightning from his fingers? Mshenko past.
1. Arrival

_All rights go to Bioware. Thanks for such a great game with such a horrible ending_

Eric sighed. 'So it had come to this.' He thought… 'hiding in a barrel'. Oh boy…

Currently Eric was trying to avoid getting caught by the cargomaster. He could hear the asari walking through the cargo hold, checking off boxes and barrels, running through items meant to be shipped into the citadel.

'Please, please, pleeeeeaassse… just walk past me just walk past me…' he pleaded to all the spirits and religions in the galaxy. 'I have to get on the Citadel

He held his breath when the walking stopped right next to him. 1,2,3,4,5.. he counted the seconds and squeezed his eyes shut. Then the asari kept walking on past. When he heard the door open and then shut, he gasped in relief.

He'd done it. The hard part was over. Now as long as he didn't get caught when the cargo arrived and he managed to sneak off the ship he'd be in the clear.

'Then what?' He thought. 'What can I possibly do on the Citadel? A dirt poor war refuge with no family or friends on the run from some crazy faced Batarians and various other aliens. Mostly Batarians. But that's not even to mention the seizures or scarring he had.' But Eric had heard that the citadel had the best memory recovery program in the galaxy.

"Hah" he snorted. 'Yes cause I can pay for that treatment with my many, many credits.'

'But it's not like I have any other options-'

Suddenly the intercom blazed on. "Arriving at citadel in precisely 2 minutes. Please prepare all customs and passes. Thank you."

"Ok." Eric whispered. "Here we go."

_Explosions were ricashaying through the air as Blue lightning struck down the massive objects floating in the sky. He could hear cheering off in the distance. 'Why are they cheering?' He thought. 'Should I be cheering? Wait, where am I?' He tried to sit up but his whole body flared in pain. "GAHHHH!" He screamed, collapsing onto the ground. 'Ok' He thought, no moving. 'But I need to find… Wait. Who do I need to find… I, I can't remember… I have to remember…' but no more thoughts came as the world went black. _

Eric hid behind a crate. He was currently trying to avoid notice from the C-sec Turians. Not an easy feat.

But so far he'd managed to sneak behind the boxes well enough and no one had spotted him. Eric was pretty good at avoiding detection. Kept him alive. He spotted the personnel door that gave entry to the citadel tunnels. From there if he could just get out of the tunnels he'd be safe. His goal was in reach. No one would question another homeless human in the citadels streets. Supposedly there were thousands seeking shelter of any kind while the rebuilding process happened on earth.

As Eric approached the door he heard a sudden "Hey! What are you doing back here?" He bolted through the door and shot off down the hallway.

Paying no attention to the signs he ran up and down the tunnels.

He turned around to look back to check for the guards when he suddenly slammed into something. The collision sent him and the person he collided with sprawling.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry maaaaaaaa…."Eric's voice fizzled out as he realized who he collided with.

It was a husk. The husk stood up as Eric's breath hitched. The husk raised its arm to point down a hallway. Eric looked down to notice a door.

Hearing the guards shouting for him to halt, he bolted towards the door.

Discovering the door open just a smidge, he bolted through it and shut it behind him.

He turned around to discover that he was in a plaza that was bustling to the brim with other people and hundreds of aliens.

Quickly jumping into the crowd, Eric knew his best bet was to hide in plain sight. He managed to walk down a few streets. Only a few people managed to see his face.

He quickly ducked into a shop, knowing it was his best bet. Realizing it was a restaurant he decided it would look suspicious if he didn't sit, so like a smart person he sat.

Finally having a chance to relax Eric took a deep, calming breath. He thought back to his run-in with the husk. Ever since the war ended, the Reapers and their armies of husk and been repairing all the damage they had caused. Nobody knew why but many claimed it was the work of the Legendary Shepard, the man who saved the galaxy.

An asari waitress came over with a menu and Eric quickly sat up and smiled.

"Hello. My name is Aithia and I will be serving you aaaahhh!" The waitress gasped in horror when she saw Eric's face.

Eric cringed and immediately threw on his hood. He knew how bad he looked.

"_My god! What happened to him? His body is 95% covered in burns. Oh my god this man is breathing! Quickly get him some Omni gel!" _

_His mind faded in and out of consciousness. One moment the world was black. The next he was floating in a tank. 'At least some of the pain is gone.' He thought as he floated back into darkness. _

_He was rudely awoken by the warm pleasant sensations ending and his body suddenly screaming. The pain had returned. He thought he could hear people speaking above him but he couldn't tell what the words meant._

"_No facial tissue left for a scan… no tech for DNA test either… damn is there no identification we can give this man!? _

Eric hastily reached into his pack and grabbed his mask. Sliding it on he quickly got up to go.

But the waitress had finally composed herself. And, hasty to not seem like a heartless asshole, she quickly said "No! Please stay. Forgive me, that was incredibly rude of me." She seemed to genuinely feel sorry about her actions. Unlike most people who saw his face and did nothing to mask their horror.

"I'm so sorry about that. Please forgive me. In fact… How about your meal's on the house?" Eric had the sneaking suspicion in the back of his mind that she was only doing it to avoid a bad review, but it had been what, # months since he'd had a full meal.

So he sat back down and replied in his raspy voice. "Thank you. And it's alright. Everyone has that reaction when they first meet me."

The poor waitress released a deep breath in relief. " Let me try that again, without the total assholelike parts. Hi. My name is Aithia and i'll be serving you today. Sadly we currently do not have any specials do to the resource scarcity, but we do have a very fine vintage of Batarian shard wine that we normally don't offer out but you're a special case." Aithia winked at the last part. Eric had another sneaking suspicion that he was only a special case because of her slip up, but he let it slide. He was not about to turn down the chance for free food.

"I'll leave the menu with you and I'll be back in a few minutes for your order. On the house remember." Aithia sauntered off back to what was assumedly the kitchen.

Eric then looked down at the menu and realized that this was a sandwich cafe. He skimmed the menu looking for something interesting. Eventually settling on a meatball sub. Whatever that was.

Deciding to take his mask off so that he could breathe easier.

All of a sudden a massive group of very loud people all came through the door. At least 20 people all saw some Asari, Humans, a Salarian,a Turian, two Krogans, a Quarinan, what looked like a robot, and some strange four eyed alien he didn't recognize. He was about to turn back to the menu when he suddenly locked eyes with a rather well muscled looking human with pitch black hair (that had to have product in it) and piercing brown eyes. For just a moment their eyes locked and Eric felt a strange sort of scratch at the back of his mind.

But then the Turian slapped the strange man on the back and he turned around focusing back on his large group of very loud friends.

Eric looked away hurriedly and decided to stare out the window. Just relaxing as he watched the massive crowds scurry back and forth. People watching was the only thing he did for fun anymore. Aithia came back and he told her that he wanted the the sub and would definitely accept her offer for a glass of batarian shard wine. She scurried back to place the order. Then she did something unexpected she came back again and then sat down at the booth across from him.

"What are doing?" Eric asked with incredulity in his voice.

I thought i'd sit and talk with you," Aithia responded. "Prove that i'm a decent person. Besides. You look like you could use a friend." **  
**

"SHEPARD! Kaiden screamed as he woke up. Frantically he looked around for his lover, desperate to save him. Only then did the memories come back to him. Shepard was gone. He was never coming back. Kaiden broke down into sobs. Whispering that it just wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that Shepard, the saviour of the galaxy, didn't get to survive in the new galaxy.

Kaiden had been alone for months now. So he was sometimes able to conjure up proud and ok face. But not often.

_After the explosion and the following massive blue lightning. All Kaiden, and the rest of the Normandy crew wanted to do was get back to the crucible. But they were stuck on the other side of the galaxy. With no Mass Relays to take them back, they were forced to take the long way back. Long slow way. 'I'm coming Shepard. I swear I'll get there no matter what it takes.' "Please please pleeeeasssee be alive!"_

Kaiden decided to get up. No way he could sleep with those dreams in his head. He called to glyph to ask for a a cup of coffee and some breakfast. Glancing around the apartment he noticed it was just as messy as ever. "Sighhh. I should really tidy up… Tomorrow." He muttered.

As he was eating he was struck by the memory of The reading of Shepard's will. Shepard has left him the Apartment and all of his credits. And the Normandy had been passed down to Garrus. Kaiden had vowed to Miranda right then and there that he would trade everything he had just to have Shepard back. Luckily the Citadel Council has honored Shepard's wishes and the Normandy has gone to Garrus.

Kaiden finished the meal and was sipping his coffee when suddenly his Omni tool buzzed with a reminder.

Glancing down he read the message and suddenly gagged, causing Coffee to shoot out his nose.

"GAHHHH!" He screamed as his nose burned.

The reminder showed that today was the day the old Normandy crew was going to reunite at a sandwich cafe to celebrate Shepard's birthday. He had two hours until the gathering.

Kaiden shot off for the shower. All the will ripping off his old clothes.

After showering Kaiden tore through his drawers and only found one clean uniform.

As he dashed out the door it occurred to him that the uniform he wore was the same uniform he'd worn when he'd first reunited with Shepard at Alliance command on the day of the Reaper Invasion.

Kaiden went to the Rendezvous point. It was a small park with a pond and a few trees. Over to one side was a large cluster of benches and tables. When he glanced over to the tables he saw a group of people had already gathered. Upon closer inspection he saw some of his old friends. He quickly strolled over to them.

It was Tali who spotted him first, "Kee-Lah! It's Kaiden everybody!"

Kaiden was quickly swarmed by his friends. After exchanging some "Hey!" and some "What's Up?'s Kaiden then sat down while the others conversed.

After chatting with Tali he learned that they were now just waiting for James's crew to pull into port. Which included, James, Steve, Javik, Liara, Dr. Chakwas, Mordin, and Zaeed. That meant that Garrus, Tali, Joker, Edi, Jack, Samara, Samantha, Miranda, Jacob, Wrex, Grunt, Kasumi, Aria, and Legion had all already arrived.

"Hey Everybody!" Garrus started. "James just messaged me. He says that they're waiting for us in front of the sandwich shop. And that Admiral Hackett is joining us. Let's move out!"

Everybody cheered and move to follow Garrus in what they assumed was the right direction. Kaiden ended up walking next to Tali and Miranda.

Miranda asked Kaiden "How are you doing?"

"Wha? Oh. Yeah I'm fine Miranda. Never been better." Kaiden replied.

"Kaiden, don't lie to us. How are you-?" Tali started.  
"Really Tali! I'm fine."

"Kaiden-"

"Please Miranda! I JUST WANT YOU TO DROP IT." Kaiden dashed up the stretch of sidewalk towards Garrus at the front.

Miranda and Tali exchanged a sad look.

Kaiden slowed down and tried to start a casual conversation with Garrus. Asking how he was doing and what was up with the Normandy.

"Oh it's great. I'm so proud to be at the helm. I just, I just wish that it was someone else standing there sometimes. You know? Garrus looked a Kaiden with a look of longing. Kaiden knew that feeling all to well.

"Yeah, I really do." Kaiden replied.

The old friends walked in silence together. One missing his best friend and the other missing the light of his life.

Kaiden noticed someone running in an almost desperate way just out of the corner of his eye.

"Huh..."he muttered.

"What's that.?" Garrus asked.

"Oh nothing. Just something interesting in the corner of my eye." Kaiden said.

"Ahh." Garrus said. "Anyway when we get inside Admiral Hackett and I will reveal some rather huge news."

That was what Kaiden liked about Garrus. Especially now. He never felt the need to talk about emotions. He had the same sense of loss Kaiden had. But never tried to act like a counselor.

"Ah ha!" Garrus cried suddenly. "There's everyone else! And the Diner."

Kaiden smiled. It had been a while since he'd seen many of these faces. What with his spectre missions and their work rebuilding the destroyed Mass Effect Relays.

After saying long awaited "HEYS!" the group started to go into the diner. Kaiden walked in next to Garrus.

As he turned to sit down he locked eyes with a very strange man.

The poor human had had his face completely burned off. But his eyes. They were the most beautiful blue. 'They remind me of Shepard.' He thought.

Suddenly Garrus nudged him back to reality. Pointing to a spot where he could sit next to Steve. Kaiden sat and Garrus sat next to him.

When everyone was settled Hackett stood.  
"Today we mourn a terrible loss, But we also celebrate the life of the greatest man in the galaxy! I have important news to tell you all. But it can wait. I'm starving and I refuse to wait any longer. News be damned."

This was met with some resounding cheers. Mostly from Grunt, Wrex, and Jack.

'Perhaps,' Kaiden thought as he looked at all the friends he still had. 'Perhaps it's not all bad.'

And for the first time in the 9 months since Shepards death, Kaiden smiled.


	2. Mealtime

Kaiden cheered. Tali and Jack had started a rousing song of cheer. Kaiden had no idea what the words meant but the tune was infectious. They'd been at it for hours. People kept crying "Shepard!" with great enthusiasm when they drank something.

Hackett stood up, causing the entire group to instantly go dead silent.

"Now. We who are gathered here are those who were closest to shepard. I do not think there is anyone who would dispute this. Correct?"

"HARRAH" The majority present cried. Arguably, this translated to 'yes.'

"And we are here to not only celebrate the life of one of our greatest friends but to remember the sacrifices that were made for us to be here." Raising his glass, Hackett made a silent toast to all those who had fallen in the war.

'Thane, Ashley, Anderson and Shepard.' Thought Kaiden, fighting the urge to cry.

"But today should not be a day of grief!" began Hackett. "Today is a day to celebrate the lives of those we lost!"

"Hear hear!" Yelled James.

"Now for the news. Don't worry it's all good. Firstly we can safely estimate that the Reapers have repaired 83% of the Mass Relays."

"Yahhh!" Cried a few people.

"Also, our illustrious Garrus Vakarian, he has been named an official Spectre."

There was a moment of stunned silence. Garrus got a little nervous and coughed.

Then the whole group started screaming their approval and joy.

"Hell yeah!" "Spectre Vakarian!" "YEAH!"

Kaiden could see the nervousness melt off of Garrus's face as he sighed in relief. 'Huh, mane we could go on Spectre missions together.'

It took about 7 minutes for the cheering, excitement and congratulations to quite down while Hackett waited.

When everyone had settled down Hackett began again, "And finally, for all the humans in the room, I have been named the new human representative on the council."

The group went dead silent. Jack even dropped part of her sandwich.

Hackett coughed.

Then Kaiden slowly started clapping and then the others joined in. 'This is probably the best possible solution.' He thought.

Slowly the whole group went wild with more enthusiasm then ever.

Hackett sat back down with the tiniest hint of a smile on his face.

The buzz that group generated grew quite loud as the friends chatted the feeling about the news. Kaiden could see Zaeed had a grouch on his face. 'Nothing new there.' Samara had her eyes closed, 'probably meditating again.' Liara seemed to be chatting with Javik and Legion. 'Huh'. Chakwas was in a large discussion with Tali, Jacob, Aria, James, and Steve. And EDI appeared to be lecturing Garrus on common Spectre behavior and responsibilities. Garrus looked desperate to flee.

Deciding he'd had enough of the lecture, Garrus stood up abruptly. "Everyone. Time to book it to the combat simulator. I reserved us a two hour session. Come on!" And with that Garrus bolted down the room and out the door before EDI could say another word.

Jack was the first out. She used her biotics to jump up onto the table and ran after Garrus screaming, "FUCK YEAH!" All the way.

Everyone hustled out of their seats and down out the door. Kaiden took his time getting up, excited to go be in the sim but not in any rush. As he got up Hackett caught his arm.

"Major, I have something for you. This was left to me by Shepard on the Day of the battle. He asked me to give this to you on his birthday if he didn't survive. He said, "It's nothing compared to what I wanted for us. But at least maybe you can have something." ". Hackett passed him a small data chip and pressed it into his hand.

"I… Thank you Admiral. This means a lot." Kaiden said slowly. The admiral just gave him a sad, sympathetic smile, patted him on the shoulder. Then he turned around and sat back down.

"Not coming admiral?" Kaiden inquired.

"Hah!" Hackett snorted. " No major, I'll leave the fight to you younger folks. I'd much rather sit here and finish this steak sandwich. Now you go blast something. I need some privacy."

Kaiden turned to go.

"And Alenko?" Hackett started.

"Yes Admiral?"

"Have fun. That's an order."

"Yes sir!" Kaiden saluted. And he genuinely thought he would. 'Yeah. Lets do it.' He thought as he dashed out the door to catch up to the others who were waiting for him.

Eric shoved the last piece of meatball into his mouth. 'Oh god he thought. This is delvicious.' He sighed with content as he finished swallowing.

Aithia laughed. "You eat like you've never had a full meal!"

"I haven't." Eric replies.

Aithia stopped dead. She turned and looked at him horrified.

"Kidding." He said.

Aithia released a deep breathe. Clearly relived.

Aithia and Eric has been chatting while Eric was eating. Eric found her presence to be quite nice. She was friendly and witty. And she seemingly didn't mind his face, or lack thereof.

Aithia reaches over across the table and slapped him on the backside of the head.

"Oww!" He shouted. "Rude!" He said but the tone was playful.

"That," Aithia replied, "Is what you deserve!"

"AITHIA!" Shouted some unseen voice.

"Op. Time to go!" Aithia cringed as she hustled out of the booth and ran towards the kitchen. "Gotta go, boss is calling! Meet me in the presidium in two days!"

Eric watched with mirth in his eyes. 'What a hyperactive Asari.' He thought. 'At least she was friendly.'

Eric turned to face the window. He'd decided to stay and chill for a while.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw this older man, in a real fancy uniform, stand up and start to address the rather large party group on the opposite side of the diner. Eric didn't pay attention to what they were saying. It was somebody else's business.

Eric stares out the window for a long time. He lost track of how much time but it felt like years. . Every time he turned to leave, he'd found his drink refilled. A little gift from Aithia. It wasn't alcohol, but it was tasty. 'It'd be rude to leave without finishing it.' He thought with a smirk on his face.

But sadly all good things end. He noticed a Batarian. It took him a moment to realize the long tube in his hands was a missile launcher.

Eric shot out of his seat. He saw the old man in the uniform getting out of his seat.

He dived toward the man screaming, "GET DOWN!"

He slammed into the floor and the man shouted. "What are you doin-!"

Then the windows exploded.


	3. Chaos at the Diner

"Soldier! Soldier! Get up! Hurry!"

Eric slowly regained consciousness, but his ears were ringing as if he'd put his head inside a ringing church bell. Shaking his head to try a shake away some of the dizziness, he could barely tell what the alliance guy was saying. But he instinctively knew to get out his pistol.

He couldn't hear much, but he could still see. So aimed and shot at some off the Batarians invading the diner.

He noticed the fancy uniform guy was stuck using an Omni-blade. He'd managed to bash in some heads. 'Impressive.' Eric noted.

The two of them managed hold off a couple dozen mercenaries.

But then Eric noticed another merc enter the diner. But this one was armed with heavy, machine gunnery.

He spun around and grabbed the old guy's shoulders. "Down!" He screamed as they ducked behind a knocked over table.

The Batarian started firing all over. Many of of the other mercs were shot down as the big one didn't seem to care.

"Back up! I repeat I need back up now!" Yelled the alliance guy. " I-GAHHH!" He screamed. His shoulder had been shot, it caused him to collapse onto the ground.

Eric peered around the table surface and took the shot, ending the incessant barrage.

The diner finally went silent, but Eric could tell there were more Batarians out there, developing a new plan to get at him.

"You okay?" Eric said as he turned back and bent down to help the man.

"Yeah… I'm fine…" He responded. "But this isn't over. There's more out- Ahhh!" He shouted, grabbing his shoulder.

"Yeah. More of them are regrouping our past the front door." Eric replied.

"Don't worry. I was able to get out a distress call. I've got a small army of elite soldiers, powerful biotics, and two Spectres coming. They'll be here soon!"

"There's no time! They're here for me!" Eric started. "Listen! You head out through the back with those civilians. I'll go through the front and distract them." Eric yelled.

That's too dangerous!" The man started.. but Eric interrupted him.

"Go! Take them with you!" He yelled, pointing at the cowering family and kitchen staff.

"Soldier!" The man started! "What's your name!?"

But Eric gave no response as he charged out door.

Eric charged through the ruined door. He quickly shot three of the Batarians while they were still distracted. "Over here, ya shit faces!" He cried as he took off down the street. Based off the number of shots the remaining Batarians fires, they had given chase.

Eric knew he had to get away from them. But he also couldn't lead them to a big open area. That could lead to innocents being killed.

He turned a ducked into an alleyway. 'Here,' he though. 'This is tight enough, I'll use it to create a bottleneck strategy. He ducked behind a large dumpster. He quickly took aim at the front of the alley.

One. Two. Three. Four. 'Ha!' He thought 'Works like a charm.'

But they stopped coming after a while. 'Must've figured out the futility of trying to get through here.' He thought.

But there kept not being any shots, so he got suspicious. He rolled over to the other side of the alley and looked up right as a Batarian sniper shot down at him.

Eric tried to dodge but only managed to avoid the shot hitting his heart. It shot right through his upper right arm. "Grrrrrggh!" He wanted to scream but managed to keep it down.

Using his left arm he fired a couple shots upwards to disperse the sniper from their perch. It must've worked as no more shots were fired at him from that direction.

But Eric knew they would keep coming so he forced himself up and stumbled back out the alley. He took off running we he heard shots being fired. He tried to zig-zag to avoid being shot i8n the back. Eric felt certain that it was time to make a quick escape. Frantically he turned and searched for a way out. None stuck out. But he did see some hover vehicles driving along one of the sky lanes. 'Bingo!' he thought.

He broke out into a jog to get to the sky lane. But he'd lingered to long searching for an escape route, as his pursuers had caught up. He tried to duck a few off the shot but he was getting dizzy. 'Have to get out of here.' He thought as he started running.

He managed to reach the sky lane. Her hopped over the railing and tried to jump for one of the fast moving cars. But as he jumped he felt his left leg explode in pain.

"Damn!"he grunted as he slammed into the side of . He frantically clawed for a hold and managed to grab the railing at the top of the car with his left hand.

Eric dangled there. Unable to lift himself up because of his wounded arm and leg.

"Can't stay here." He whispered as he began to slip. His hand was to sweaty from shooting and running earlier.

Eric noticed a long line of large windows. After that the sky lane turned upwards towards a different branch of the citadel.

"Have to jump. Have to jump... NOW!" He shoved his feet up in front of his thighs and shoved off the car as he let go.

Time seemed to slow. For a moment Eric felt like he was flying. For just a moment, Eric was at peace.

"_Hey Shepard?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_You ever wish you could fly?"_

"_Oh yeah all the time! If I could fly the I could go up and see the stars and fight the bad guys and be a superhero! Pew pew. Bang! SHOOOOM!"_

"_Ha ha! Yah! Me too!" _

"_Eric?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Someday. We should get on a ship and go flying. For real. See the ENTIRE GALAXY! What do you think?"_

"_Definitely! We definitely should do that!" _

But time stopped for no one and Eric, raising his arms, slammed into the window, cutting through the glass like a cannonball.

Eric crashed onto the cold floor and skidded on the glass shards until he slammed into a couch.

"Ughh" he grunted.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" Screamed an automated voice. Eric raised his pistol and shot the computer node. The voice and alarms shut off. The room went dark.

"Finally…" 'It's off…' Eric's head collapsed onto the ground. All consciousness lost.

Kaiden was laughing his ass off.

Jack currently held James, Steve, Joker and EDI about 12 feet in the air. She'd gotten absolutely fed up with the arguing they had.

Joker and Steve had started arguing over who was the better pilot. The EDI and James had gone to defend their respective friends. But even then they still hadn't stopped arguing. So Liara had taken some liberties and started tickling them.

This basically lead to about half the group keeling over laughing their asses off.

Not everyone from the lunch had stayed around for the combat sim. Aria had hightailed it off the citadel about five seconds after Hacketts speech. Legion had mentioned something about needing to work more on the new Geth city. Mordin and Dr. Chakwas had both decided to sit out on the combat. Joker had tried to join him, but EDI said otherwise.

The group had picked out a simulation that involved landing a ship into a drop zone. It enabled both Joker and Steve to participate with their best skills.

Kaiden noticed Garrus looking very intense. He slowly stopped laughing. Wiping the tears from his eyes he stood back up. "Hey Garrus, what's up?"

Garrus's eyes had gone dark as he pressed his fingers to his ear.

"QUIET!" He yelled,

Jack turned and dropped the people she was holding.

Everyone else turned to face Garrus.

Garrus's eyes went wide. Clearly the Turian was panicked.

"EVERYONE! Quickly get your gear. Hackett is a under attack!" Garrus stated.

The euphoria kaiden had been experiencing mere minutes ago had vanished. All humor had been replaced with grim determination. Garrus and Kaiden had used their Spectre status to anex a few hover cars from the parking lot. They were racing the cars at high speeds towards the diner as fast as possible.

Suddenly, Kaiden's Omni-tool lit up, flashing wildly. But before Kaiden could check it Garrus's voice blared over the comm channel, "Drop in one minute! Be ready!" What ever had alerted his Omni tool had stopped now. Activating his biotics, Kaiden turned his mind to the conflict about to come.

"Aaaannnndd…. Go!" Garrus shouted.

Steve opened the door, and Kaiden jumped.


	4. Painful Memories

Kaiden slammed onto the ground and raised his fists up, biotics ready for a fight, but there were no enemies. Kaiden stood up and lowered his fists. He noticed the others exit the shuttle all ready, but them stop and lower their various weapons in confusion.

A couple c-sec officers seemed to have arrived and stabilized the situation. four outside, one inside. They seemed to be investigating the scene.

Noting the large amount of dead Batarians, Kaiden jogged into the diner, or what was left of it.

Kaiden spotted the Admiral sitting on what might be the only chair that was left intact.

"Admiral!" Kaiden spoke up.

"Ah. Major Alenko." Hackett said. "Good. I'm glad you're here. We need to talk."

"What happened here?!" Kaiden asked in disbelief as he took in the wreckage."

"Batarian revolutionaries." Hackett grimaced.

"What?"

"There has been a growing movement of radical Batarians slowly attacking earth transports and other citadel species resources. Their government is denying any involvement, but the council thinks otherwise. But we're to weak from the war to do anything right now."

"But what do they want?"

"We don't know. We don't know anything dammit! The admiral started to stand as he yelled in frustration. But he immediately covered his shoulder with his hand and grunted in pain.

"Are you ok sir?" Kaiden asked as he moved to help the admiral back into his seat.

"Yes! I'm fine dammit!" Hackett yelled. But he did move back onto the chair. "It's just a shoulder wound. Nothing the medics can't fix with some omni-gel."

"Can you recount everything that happened to me sir?" Kaiden asked after a moment.

"Not now major. Not here, Not now." Hackett responded.

"Sir?" Kaiden looked unsure.

Hackett sighed. Clearly frustrated and just plain tired. He leaned in towards Kaiden, Whispering "This incident. It's not quite what it appears to be. There's a bigger picture here. No. Don't ask me. We will not speak of it here. But I'm expecting you to show up at the council meeting tomorrow at 0800. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Oh and bring spectre Vakarian with you."

"I… Understood sir."

"Go home major. Celebrate , but rest up. Be ready for long term deployment tomorrow."

"Yes sir." Kaiden nodded and saluted. A couple of C-sec officers walked over and Kaiden let them take over from there. Seeing that he longer had any responsibilities to take care of hear, and noting that Dr. Chakwas had also vanished, presumably to help Admiral Hackett, Kaiden realized it would soon be night time. Or the Citadel's equivalent to night time at least. 'I guess it's time to head home.'Kaiden thought. He stood up and turned to leave.

But then a thought struck him. Knowing that it might not work and that there wasn't much time to act, he quickly sent out a mass omni tool message to everyone who'd attended the lunch. "_Everyone head to the Shepard monument. Time for a group photo. Spectre's orders." _

Kaiden booked a cab. Hoping to hurry over to the monument as fast as possible. But as he was waiting, he saw the notifications on the group comm start to go crazy. Apparently everyone agreed, A group photo was a great idea.

After arriving at the presidium, Kaiden stepped out of the automated Cab. After paying his fee, the cab shot off.

Kaiden turned and looked up at the monument. A massive statue of Shepard stood over 45 feet tall. Carved from solid marble and with a trimming of gold detail. It was quite a monolith. Kaiden stared up at it. It had been carved in remarkable likeness. That was because of Kaiden. He had used his spectre status to seize control of the project. He'd provided pictures and videos. Shared details of facial scars. 'Nobody would be creating an inadequate statue that large without getting the details right.' He'd thought.

Kaiden turned around. He noticed that some people had already arrived. Such as Tali, Samara, James, Joker, Steve, EDI, Zaeed and Sam. Other friends were arriving like Grunt, Wrex, and Legion.

Kaiden had a message from Aria. She'd said in the politest way possible, "Fuck no."

Kaiden turned back towards the statue. He stared at the monument. Remembering how silly he'd found it the Council had wanted Shepard to be pointing his hand into the horizon. Kaiden had vetoed that idea and instead he'd had Shepard saluting. It made a lot more sense in his mind, and the council had respected his call.

A powerful sense of longing filled Kaiden. Feeling a tear slide down one cheek, Kaiden quickly turned away from the monument.

Tali has started a large card game while everyone waited for the others to arrive. Kaiden sat down next to them on the grass. Tali quickly dealt him in. Something tickled Kaidens mind. He had a feeling that Tali had been drinking. He didn't blame her.

After about an hour Garrus and Dr Chakwas showed up. Kaiden then stood up. Most people stood up. Some slower than others. (Ahem, Tali, ahem.)

"Now! Everyone, hic, everyone get lined up for a picture! Wooo, ooh, woah..." Tali squatted down.

Despite how drunk the Tali was or wasn't, everyone did line up. With Tali back up on her feet, she forced Kaiden into the center of the group, with Garrus, Tali, Wrex, Liara, Joker, and Dr. Chakwas on his left and right sides.

After posing everyone, EDI deployed some small drone, and everyone, even Zaeed, yelled "Shepard!" as the camera clicked.

EDI sent the photo to everyone who'd participated. But after that a lot of people had to rush off. Most people did have jobs and such they had to attend to.

But Kaiden did manage to catch Garrus. Grabbing the Turians arm, Garrus turned. "Kaiden? Whats up?"

"Councilor Hackett has specifically requested that both of us report to the council chamber tomorrow at 0800." Kaiden replied. "Hackett said to bring you and he mentioned that it would involve long term deployment."

"I… Got it."Garrus replied.

And with that Kaiden sent out for a taxi cab. It was time to go home.

On the ride home, Kaiden couldn't stop fidgeting. He was holding the data chip Admiral Hackett had given him in his hands, shifting it back and forth from hand to hand. HE was heavily resisting the urge to just get it over with here and now. 'No.' He thought. 'He deserves better than that.'He sighed. This ride was taking forever.

Kaiden leaned back into his seat. His eyes were heavy from the long and stressful moments that had happened over the day. Turning his head to look out the window, Kaiden stared out at the buildings flashing by. His eyes began to droop.

_Kaiden leaped out the shuttle doors the moment they opened. Not even waiting for the shuttle to touch the ground. Garrus, Tali and Liara right on his tail. He took off at a breakneck pace, desperate to know. Pleading that it wasn't true. _

_It had taken a few weeks for the Normandy to get back to Earth. Most of the Mass Relays weren't woking. When the normandy had finally reached the Sol System, they had received a message from Dr. Chakwas. Shepard had been found._

_They had hauled ass to get to the rubble field where the crucible had collapsed. There was a small hospital set up near the edge. Publicly it had been created so that the wounded soldiers wouldn't have to travel far for treatment. But it's real purpose had been to find Shepard's body, before anyone else could._

_Kaiden jumped over giant boulders. The clinic was in sight._

_Kaiden burst through the doors. Garrus, Tali and Liara right on his heels. Kaiden knew that the other squad mates were not far behind. But at the moment didn't care where anybody was except on person. Kaiden slammed into the front desk._

_Out of breath all he could say was. "Shepard! Chakwas!" _

_Luckily the nurse was smart. Pointing down the right hallway he said "Three doors down and to the left.  
Kaiden and co. took off. Sprinting down the hall, skidding to a stop at the door the nurse had mentioned. Kaiden threw open the door._

_Dr. Chakwas stood up from her chair. Wiping tears from her eyes she moved to the side so that Kaiden could get near. _

_Stumbling forward, Kaiden stared at the charred corpse in front of him. Turning to Chakwas, he said "That's not him. It can't be. Right?" He looked pleadingly at the doc._

"_We did a cheek swab. I just got the results a few minutes ago. The DNA came back a positive match. I'm sorry. It's him." _

_Kaiden choked. He grabbed onto the chair. Sitting down he managed to hold himself together. _

"_We found these in his hands." Chakwas said. Handing Kaiden a pair of dog tags. He barely registered there existence. _

_Garrus, Saint he was, got Chakwas's attention and herded everyone out of the room. Kaiden buried his face in his hands and lost all semblance of control over his emotions._

Kaiden's head snapped up. The auto car had arrived. USing his omnitool to pay his fare, Kaiden scooted out of the car. Holding the data chip in his right hand, Kaiden stood up. He started walking into the apartment building.

Walking down the hall Kaiden's heart began to race. He could barely wrap his head around the idea of seeing Shepard again. Even if only in a message. When he reached the door he stopped. His heart was pounding and he felt sweat trickling down his back. He had to stand there for a few minutes, but he was finally able to regain control of his mind. And rid himself of some of the fear he deep breaths he opened the door.

As Kaiden's apartment door opened, Kaiden began his stride, intent on going straight to interface. But he stopped dead when he saw the chaos of his living room. One of the main windows had shattered, glass was all over the floor and the couches had been moved.

Quickly grabbing his pistol, Kaiden ducked behind one of the pillars in the entry hall. Ready to shoot the invaders, he turned and walked slowly over to the couch.

After a minute he decided to dash over to the couch Turning to the right he immediately saw a man lying face down on the ground. A massive pool of blood spreading out underneath him.

Kaiden called out for Glyph but not hearing a response Kaiden used his omni tool to call for emergency services.

Bending down to check the man, he felt a pulse.

"Oh my god." Kaiden whispered. "He's alive"

Kaiden moved to turn the man over to try and stop the bleeding. Noticing that the man's arms and legs were covered in hundreds of cuts. 'Probably fell through the window.` Kaiden thought.  
As he hefted the man onto his back. Kaiden immediately recognized the mans face. Or lack thereof.

It was the man from the cafe whose face had been burned off.

The man groaned. Obviously in great pain.

"Hey. Stay with me!" Kaiden said.

Looking at the man he noticed that he had a gunshot in his shoulder and in his thigh.

"My god. What happened to you?" Kaiden whispered.

He pressed his hands to the man's shoulder, try to slow the bleeding.

After gods knows how much time passed, the emergency services arrived.

They loaded him onto a stretcher. But before they could leave, Kaiden caught one of the nurses.

Telling the Salarian "This man is suspected to have been present at a recent terrorist attack. Put guards on his room. I'll come and check on him tomorrow if I can."

Nodding and mentioning that he'd see to it, the Salarian hurried off after the rest of the medics.

C-sec arrived and got his statement and he told them he'd send anything else he found their way.

Glyph managed to reboot itself right after he shut the door behind the officers.

Sighing. Kaiden looked at the broken window.

'Eh. I'll fix it tomorrow.' He thought.

Sitting down on his bed he almost collapsed from exhaustion. It had been a stressful day. Kaiden didn't even bother taking off his uniform as he began to fall asleep.

At some point when Kaiden as sleeping, the data chip fell on the floor. Lost in the large pile of clothes that had been left there.


End file.
